60 Years of Liberation Celebrated at Holocaust Awareness Week at Colorado State University
Colorado State University’s Students for Holocaust Awareness presents the ninth annual Holocaust Awareness Week Feb. 28-March 4. The week will be filled with evocative programs for students, staff, faculty and community members.
This year’s theme, "60 Years of Liberation: Every Face has a Number. Every Number has a Face," celebrates the struggles and triumphs of Holocaust survivors. Hedy Berman, Colorado State’s Hillel director, describes the week as a time of remembrance and respect for all of the lives lost during the Holocaust and the importance of hearing the stories of the remaining survivors.
"Eventually, future generations will not be able to hear about the Holocaust from people who experienced it. It will become a chapter in their history textbooks," Berman said. "So if we hear the stories of the survivors and pass them on, then they will not be forgotten. And their message within those stories will not be forgotten – a message of caution of where hate and intolerance can lead and a message of hope for a better tomorrow."
The week begins with three Holocaust survivors who will share their stories followed by a question and answer period. The event begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Lory Student Center Main Ballroom.
This year’s keynote speaker is Eva Kor, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp and the founder of the Holocaust Museum in Indiana. Kor is an author, speaker and founder of CANDLES, or Children of the Auschwitz Nazi Lab Experiment Survivors, an organization devoted to locating and reuniting survivors of medical experiments conducted at Auschwitz. She recently returned from Poland, where she spoke at the 60th anniversary of liberation celebration. Kor will be sharing how she and her identical sister were subjected to Nazi experiments under Josef Mengele, known as Angel of Death, in "Echoes from Auschwitz," at 7 p.m. March 1 in the Lory Student Center North Ballroom. Kor also will be presenting "My Long Journey to Healing" as part of the Colorado State’s Women at Noon series at noon March 2 in Room 230 Lory Student Center.
Osi Sladek, also a Holocaust survivor, will share his story in a creative performance combining music and dialogue. Sladek crafts his performance by linking the old-world traditions and stories with new ones. He will be sharing "A Journey of Survival" at noon March 1 in Room 230 Lory Student Center. The presentation is co-sponsored by Colorado State’s International Connections.
Denver photographer Nick Del Calzo will present an inspiring slide show of photographs of Holocaust survivors taken from his book, "The Triumphant Spirit: Portraits and Stories of Holocaust Survivors and their Messages of Hope and Compassion," at 7 p.m. March 2 in the Lory Student Center Theater.
Events are funded by the Associated Students of Colorado State University, Hillel of Colorado, Association for Student Activity Programming, Women at Noon, PAC, CREATE and the Lory Student Center Diversity grant. All Holocaust Awareness Week events are free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Hillel at Colorado State at (970) 491-2080 or refer to the calendar on the Hillel Web site at http://csu.hillelcolorado.org.
A complete schedule of events follows.
Monday, Feb. 28 – Friday, March 4
– Field of Flags, Natural Resources Building lawn: Display of flags representing the different groups murdered during the Holocaust. Each flag represents 5,000 victims
– Litany of the Martyrs, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Feb. 28-March 3; and 10 a.m.-noon March 4, Lory Student Center Sunken Lounge: Reading of the names of some of those who were murdered in the Holocaust.
Monday, Feb. 28
– "Attraction of Hate," 11 a.m., Room 230 Lory Student Center: Shay Bright of Colorado State’s Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services explore hate groups, hate music and hate on the Internet.
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– Silver Wear Project, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Lory Student Center Sunken Lounge: Opportunity to decorate bracelets made out of silverware and donate money for Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
– Survivor’s Panel, 7 p.m., Lory Student Center Main Ballroom: Three Holocaust survivor share their stories.
Tuesday, March 1
– "A Journey of Survival," International Connections with Osi Sladek, noon, Room 230 Lory Student Center: Sladek retells his Holocaust survival story through music and dialogue.
– "Echoes from Auschwitz," 7 p.m., Lory Student Center North Ballroom: Eva Kor, founder of CANDLES and survivor of the twin experiments during the Holocaust, shares her experiences.
Wednesday, March 2
– "My Long Journey to Healing," Woman at Noon with Eva Kor, noon, Room 230 Lory Student Center.
– "The Triumphant Spirit," 7 p.m., Lory Student Center Theater: Photographer Nick Del Calzo presents a slide show of photos from his book.
– "A Student of the Holocaust," 3 p.m., Room 230 Lory Student Center: Keli Larson Flewell, speech communication graduate student, will share her personal experience visiting Poland and relate how we learn about the Holocaust changes when we are confronted with the reality of the Holocaust.
Thursday, March 3
– "Operation Understanding," 11 a.m., Room 210 Lory Student Center: Film that features African-American and Jewish students who travel to Israel and Senegal and discover their histories are rooted in painful similarities. Co-sponsored with Colorado State’s Black Student Services.
– "Pink Triangles," 3 p.m., Room 213 Lory Student Center: Author, columnist and Professor David Schneer explores persecution of the gay community during the Holocaust. Co-sponsored with Colorado State’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services.
– "Children of Holocaust Survivors Speak," 7 p.m., Lory Student Center Theater: A documentary film that narrates the personal experiences of eight adult children of Holocaust survivors. A panel discussion with individuals appearing in the film will follow.
Friday, March 4
– Memorial Service at noon in the Lory Student Center Art Lounge: A service to remember the victims of the Holocaust with readings, songs, prayers and candle lighting.
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